While officially lauded for co-chairing the SFJazz capital building campaign, Anderson and McEvoy separately support arts organizations large (S.F. Opera, S.F. Symphony, S.F. Ballet) and smallish (Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, Arion Press).

“Without Nion and Robert,” noted Litquake co-founder JackBoulware, “the literary arts in San Francisco wouldn’t be as dynamic as they are.”

Grateful for his former trustees’ visionary leadership in imagining a new cultural institution, SFJazz founder-artistic director RandallKline declared McEvoy and Anderson (both generational EssEff natives) an integral part of the Bay Area’s magic.

“This started as a selfish journey — I love this unbelievable music born of strife and suffering,” Anderson said. “Then I met a bunch of people who were very selfless; especially three women (NancyBechtle, FrancesBowes, MimiHaas) who encouraged me. Today we’re at 95 percent ticket sales. We’re filling the hall because of the music; because we wanted to make a sacred space and cultural center for jazz.”

McEvoy said assisting Randall’s dream for SFJazz was “a great honor.” While initially hesitant to ask people for money, McEvoy later felt he’d afforded them an opportunity to help culture in San Francisco thrive.

Now at work on the almost-completed SFMOMA capital campaign, McEvoy said JulieSimpson shared that her late father, philanthropist BarclaySimpson, believed giving away money was fun.

“Even though SFMOMA will open soon, I feel like saying, ‘Hey, it’s almost over, but you can still be part of it.’ Especially if it’s as rewarding and inspiring as SFJazz is,” McEvoy continued. “So I’d like to give the last word to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who sang, ‘Give it away, give it away, give it away now.’”

More by Catherine Bigelow

Green days: The madness of March is not just about basketball. It also belongs to the many descendants of Irish immigrants who helped build the city.

A majority of them — a record 800 attendees — were at the St. Francis Hotel for the 52nd Hibernian Newman Club St. Patrick’s Day Lunch honoring Father Brendan McBride, founder of the city’s Irish Immigration Pastoral Center.

Last year, this Donegal native received his country’s highest honor, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, for his support to family and friends of the students who died last year in the Berkeley balcony collapse.

Led by HN President Jim Horan, this spirited hooley also featured a set by former Giants third-base coach Tim Flannery, whose Irish heritage informs his masterful music and skillful storytelling.

“My Irish ancestors were the first white settlers in the Appalachias,” said Flannery, now an MLB commentator. “We brought the music and we brought the whiskey. You’re welcome.”

Photo: Catherine Bigelow, Special To The Chronicle

S.F. Giants exec and Hibernian Newman Club member Joey Nevin (left), St. Patrick’s Day lunch honoree Father Brendan McBride and former Giants coach Tim Flannery.

S.F. Giants exec and Hibernian Newman Club member Joey Nevin...

In thanks, these proud S.F. Irish raised funds for the S.F. Diocese’s college ministry and the Pastoral Center. And HN trustee Mary McFadden with her husband, Bob, who met Flannery and his wife, Donna, while waving a Giants flag from their boat in the Caribbean, made sure a check was also cut for the Flannery’s anti-bullying foundation, Love Harder Project.

Jim Byrne noted that McBride has presided over numerous joyous, and mournful, events, and praised the padre’s golf skills and friendships with famous players.

“But I’ve been with you at rosaries where there were only 20 people. Yet you showed the same dignity and respect on those occasions as you did to big-time golfers,” said Byrne. “I’m told you could’ve been a pro golfer. But as good a golfer as you’ve been, you’ve been a far better priest.”

Green days, Part 2: Billionaire philanthropist Chuck Feeney was lauded March 11 at the St. Francis Hotel by the American Ireland Fund for his support: He donated $177 million to establish the Global Brain Health Institutes at Trinity College Dublin and UCSF last year.

Photo: Catherine Bigelow, Special To The Chronicle

Irish Consul General Philip Grant (left) with St. Patrick’s Day Parade Grand Marshal Jerry Boyle and his wife, Bridget, at City Hall.

Irish Consul General Philip Grant (left) with St. Patrick’s Day...

The merry month was kicked off at City Hall, where Mayor Ed Lee, Protocol Chief Charlotte Shultz, Supervisor Mark Farrell and Irish Consul General Philip Grant unfurled the republic’s flag as they commemorated the Easter Rising’s centennial.

“The Easter Rising occurred because Irish people had enough injustice. In the 1850s, 1.5 million Irish landed on the shores of America. They were starving, uneducated and unwanted. Yet they yearned for a part of the American dream,” said Grant. “The city of San Francisco stands for many things. But its greatest things are fairness, equality and inclusiveness. And that’s what the first Irish who arrived here experienced.”